Standing Stones & Monolith Folklore

Turn Around

Location: Hallam Moors (Derbyshire) - Head Stone (also known as Stump John)Type: LegendDate / Time: Unknown, but stone still standsFurther Comments: This six metre tall stone is reputed to turn over when it hears the crowing of a cockerel.

Red Woman

Location: Hardley (Norfolk) - Small block of stone at the crossing of three roads and a dirt pathType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Midnight, though exact dates uncertainFurther Comments: On a few select nights of the year, a ghostly woman in red materialises and sits on this small stone.

The Grey Ladies

Location: Harthill Moor (Derbyshire) - Stone circleType: LegendDate / Time: Still presentFurther Comments: It was reported that these boulders transformed into women at night, who danced until the cock crowed.

Witches' Obelisk

Location: Hartley (Northumberland) - Old Hartley Standing StoneType: LegendDate / Time: Still presentFurther Comments: A local piece of folklore said that if you ran around the menhir seven times while holding your breath, the witch would appear.

Devil Speaking

Location: Hemswell (Lincolnshire) - Devil's PulpitType: Legend - Old NickDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: Children would once poke pins into a boundary stone before running around it several times. After this they thought they could hear the Devil speaking from deep underground.

Treasure Hunter

Location: Higher Combe (Somerset) - The Caratacus Stone, just outside the villageType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Weather Dependent: Foggy nightsFurther Comments: The jutting rock is said to have treasure concealed beneath it, though it is now protected by the ghost of a man who tried to remove the stone to find the hidden wealth - his body was found crushed under the stone.

Devil's Stone

Location: Honiton (Devon) - Church HillType: Legend - Old NickDate / Time: Still present?Further Comments: This rock is all that remains after the Devil and the locals threw stones at each other.

Reapers

Location: Hownam (Borders) - Standing stonesType: LegendDate / Time: Still presentFurther Comments: This stones are said to be people who tried to reap their crops on the Sabbath.

Godstone

Location: Inishkea Islands (County Mayo) - Exact areas unknownType: LegendDate / Time: Godstone pre twentieth century, Crane still present?Further Comments: The Godstone was said to have granted islanders with control over the weather, credited with increasing the speed of potato growth, and could also put out fires. The stone was cast into the sea at some point in the nineteenth century after a religious man took exception to it. The islands were (or are) also home to an immortal crane - the bird is said to have sat alone from the dawn of time, waiting until the end of the world.

John Thurlow Reade

Location: Ipsden (Oxfordshire) - Icknield Way, white memorial stoneType: Post-Mortem ManifestationDate / Time: 1827?Further Comments: John's ghost was seen by his mother on the spot now marked by the memorial stone - he had just died in India at roughly the same time of the sighting. The Icknield Way has several more ghosts reported along it, including phantom coaches, shucks, Romans and Boadicea's legion.

Dead Horse

Location: Kerris (Cornwall) - Kerris Roundago (Iron Age hill fort, no longer present)Type: CurseDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: Several stones from the hill fort were taken to Penzance by horse, to repair the pier. Despite being healthy, the horses all died soon after.

Dobbs

Location: Kesgrave (Suffolk) - Dobbs LaneType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1960sFurther Comments: Haunted by the ghost of a suicide, the crossroads here is where Dobbs is buried; a young shepherd who took his life after losing a sheep. Youths out for some fun in the 1960's started to dig up the grave, only to be scared off by 'something'.

Location: Kilchrenan (Argyll and Bute) - Road between village and Ardanaiseig, stone by the roadType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: It is idly speculated that this ghostly monk may have been sacrificed on this old stone by pagans.

The Blowing Stone

Location: Kingston Lisle (Oxfordshire) - Blowingstone HillType: LegendDate / Time: Still presentFurther Comments: The village is said to have taken its name from when King Alfred used the stone to summon an army to fight the invading Vikings - when blown into, the stone can create a loud, deep note. Another legend says whomever can sound a note that can be heard from the Uffington White Horse Hill, shall be king of England. This may not be legally binding...

Thirsty Stone

Location: Kingstone (Hereford & Worcester) - Large whetstone in the villageType: LegendDate / Time: Stone still presentFurther Comments: This rock submerges itself in a nearby river to cool itself down on particularly hot days.

Apron Leakage

Location: Kirkby Lonsdale (Cumbria) - Casterton Stone CircleType: Legend - Old NickDate / Time: Stones still presentFurther Comments: This stone circle was created while the Devil used his apron to carry rocks - the strings snapped, the stones fell, and the devil just let them lie.

Dead Dragon

Location: Kirkton of Tealing (Angus) - Martin's StoneType: DragonDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: A stone in the area marks the place where a local man named Martin killed a dragon which had eaten nine sisters who had gone to fetch water for their aging father.

Location: Levisham (Yorkshire) - Bridestones (standing stones)Type: LegendDate / Time: Stones still presentFurther Comments: The stones scattered across the moors are named Bridestones, not because of marriage, but after a pagan deity known as Bridget.

Meg & her Daughters

Location: Little Salkeld (Cumbria) - Long Meg stonesType: LegendDate / Time: Still standingFurther Comments: A collection of standing stones, these are said to have been a coven of witches turned to stone for their sins.

Solid Gold

Location: Littlebredy (aka Little Bredy) (Dorset) - The Grey Mare & Her Colts (long barrow)Type: LegendDate / Time: Stone still presentFurther Comments: Hidden under the Grey Mare is reputedly a coffin made from solid gold. There is also a local legend that connects the barrow to a phantom horse that runs around the area.

Bridge Builder

Location: Lizard (Cornwall) - Loose, rough stones in the area (was known as the Apron String), Rill PointType: LegendDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: An evil spirit wanted to build a bridge to France to aid smugglers, however the spirit's apron string broke as it moved the stones required for the task, so gave up.

Petrified Thief

Location: Llandyfrydog (Gwynedd) - Just outside the village - Carreg Lleidr (Robber's Stone)Type: LegendDate / Time: 25 December, midnight (reoccurring)Further Comments: Legend has it that an oddly shaped stone here was a thief who stole a bible, and while carrying it over his shoulder, was turned to rock. Every Christmas the stone runs three times around the field in which it stands.

Carreg Ateb

Location: Llandyrnog (Clwyd) - The Carreg Ateb stone (currently buried)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: When it stood on the road between the village and Moel-y-Parc, the area around the stone was said to be haunted by a man murdered by his brother. However, a farmer has now buried the boulder and it is unknown whether the ghost will be affected.